An afternoon of family fun at Hollywood Bowl Birmingham

Last Sunday, we were invited over to Hollywood Bowl Birmingham for an afternoon of tenpin bowling. Olly was very excited as he had never been before. It’s something we’ve wanted to take him to enjoy but never got the chance to do. Along with his Aunty and cousin, we were all looking forward to an afternoon of family fun.

We were invited to use one of the VIP lanes at the bowling alley which is something I’ve never done before so we were all rather impressed. The VIP area is rather nice with cosy seating, VIP ropes and plush curtains to section off your party from the crowds. The main attraction of the VIP lanes is that you get on-call table service whenever you need them so our lane host Becky brought over our drinks and ordered our meals for us for after our game.

Gone are the days of the hideous bowling shoes

Yes, you heard correctly! As long as you’re wearing flat soled shoes you’re able to wear your own shoes on the lane. This was music to my ears as I didn’t want to coax Olly into another pair of shoes. Luckily we were all wearing flat shoes so was able to wear them to play the game.

Bumpers and Ramps are essential for young kids (& rubbish adults)

When taking your four year old bowling for the first time, it’s pretty essential to make sure you utilise the lane bumpers and the portable ramp. Olly had a whale of a time picking his bowling ball and pushing it down the ramp onto the lane. He did really well and managed to get a strike which surprised us all. My eight year old nephew also used the bumpers as these gave him confidence in knocking down the pins. In hindsight, both me and my sister should have used it too as we were pretty rubbish!

There was five of us competing for the family ‘Champion’ title and we all had such a good time. It’s amazing how competitive you can get when there’s family gloating glory to be had. My husband, Olly and my nephew all managed to get strikes (knocking all the pins down in one go) whilst I only managed to get one spare (knocking down all the pins with two balls). Becky our lane host gave the boys ‘Strike’ stickers which they were all especially pleased with.

After a good effort, Olly was crowned the family bowling champion with a score of 100, miles ahead of both mine and his Aunty Toni’s scores!

Continuing the fun at the diner

We were also invited to try out the menu at the diner which is the on-site Hollywood Bowl restaurant. I loved the decor in here as it’s pretty retro and feels very authentically American.

Everyone had worked up a bit of an appetite so we all ordered a main course from the menu. The food on offer is typical diner food; loaded burgers, hot dogs and shakes with something for all the family at fairly reasonable prices. There’s a children’s menu too which both the boys ordered off and cleared their plates. The meal portions were good and our food came out hot and well presented.

It was good for us all to have a sit down and a chat over a bite to eat. Whilst we were all bowling, it was hard for us all to have a proper conversation so it was nice to sit in a booth, enjoy our food and have a good catch up.

A sharing dessert at Hollywood Bowl Birmingham / for greedy pigs with eyes bigger than their bellies!

We really enjoyed our afternoon of bowling at Hollywood Bowl Birmingham. All the staff were friendly and attentive and Becky, our lane host was lovely engaging with Olly and my nephew with conversation. If you’re looking for something to do one rainy weekend, I’d definitely recommend heading down to Hollywood Bowl for an afternoon of bowling fun. Be warned though, it is pretty competitive!

Disclosure: We were invited to Hollywood Bowl Birmingham in exchange for this honest review. All words and images are my own.

About Me

Emma Shilton

Welcome to Life According to MrsShilts, a UK Family Lifestyle blog written by me, Emma // Mama of two gorgeous boys // Follow our journey as a family of four as we enjoy the small things and the fun times..x

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